Thursday, August 26, 2010

In Full Swing!

Well... it looks like our school year is in full swing and keeping very busy! We have been keeping our agenda full. In writing we have been working on our sentence writing skills. We have been studying the various components of what makes a complete sentence. We put our skills to work writing friendly letters to our new principal Mrs. Mickel, our author study Kevin Henkes, and many fairy tale creatures.
Our journey with the Jolly Postman is coming to a close with the many versions of The Three Little Pigs. Along the way we have been practicing our sequencing skills and story components. Friday we will begin an activity called goal mapping, with a book called The Three Little Javalinas.
Our librarian Mrs. Fredrickson, has spent the last few weeks helping us to pick "just right" books. We used the acronym CAN IT Be good? to guide our discussions. C-cover, A-author, N-number of pages, I-illustrator, T-title, and B-blurb.
In science we began our study of different animal life cycles and the basic parts of insects. This understanding will lead in to our unit on butterflies! Our caterpillars arrive September 7th! We are looking forward to learning the parts of the caterpillars, components of the butterfly life cycle, and all there is to know about these amazing insects!
If you have any questions about parent night, or the information sent home, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your support with reading at home and math homework. Just a reminder that math homework will be going home on most evenings. As a good rule of thumb, if your child is spending more than 20/30 min on this work, please let me know. Also, one spelling homework is due every Tuesday. If your child's practice isn't something easily turned in, a note that your child practiced is plenty!
Friday we will get a chance to meet our fifth grade book buddies. Next week we will get to spend more time reading and getting to know them!

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Beginning a New School Year!

I am so excited to be starting a new school year! It has been great getting to know your 2nd graders the past few days. Rather than sending home a paper newsletter this year, I will be posting important class information on this blog. When there is an update, I will send out an e-mail. I plan to update at least every other week. I encourage you to check in often. To the right, there are several links that will be helpful to you and your 2nd grade student this year! These links will change periodically to tie in with our curriculum.
We have been busy these first few days of school with many fun and engaging activities. One of the big introductory units we have started is called the Jolly Postman. We are visiting many familiar fairy tales and have been practicing our sequencing activities.

Don't forget that the 2nd grade curriculum night is tomorrow, Thursday, August 19, at 6:00 in our classroom. I hope to see all of you then!

Mrs. Amber Crooker

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Welcome back to school!

Well... it is that time of the year and school is ready to begin! I am excited about this upcoming year and can't wait to get to know you and your families. Instead of a weekly newsletter I will be posting all information about class events and other information on this site. The blog will also offer sites and links supporting our curriculum at school. You will receive an email notification when a new posting is uploaded.
I am looking forward to meeting with you at Curriculum Night next week!

Mrs. Crooker